Truman took its home court with something to prove against John F. Kennedy and finished the night with a season sweep of its biggest rival.
Led by the strong play of Krystal Pearson and Lynda Fields, the Mustangs improved their potential playoff seed and earned their sixth win in a row with a 65-54 victory against the visiting Knights on Wednesday in PSAL Class AA girls basketball.
The win was the second straight victory for the team over Kennedy this season, after besting them in a road game by just two points on Dec 14.
Pearson and Fields entered the game with something to prove after feeling that their first win was wrongfully seen as a fluke. The two were a key reason for Truman’s victory and combined for 42 of the Mustangs points by contributing 24 and 18 points, respectively.
“This was a statement win for us,” Truman coach John Burke said. “I love Krystal to death. I’ve had her for four years and she actually was enrolled in Kennedy four years ago until her mother decided she wanted her to come here because it was closer. I’m very proud of her.”
After a back and forth first half, Kennedy (14-7, 9-3 ‘AA’) saw its eight-point lead trimmed to just two and went into halftime clinging to a 34-32 lead. It was in the second half that Pearson would turn it on, converting 12 of her points as Truman (17-6, 11-3) outscored the Knights 20-9 in the quarter and went on a 10-0 run to close out the third with a 52-45 lead.
“It’s great to win in front of our home crowd,” said Pearson, who went on a visit to VCU last week. “It was good to prove everybody wrong because everyone thought the first win was a fluke. Lynda is a great point guard and got the ball to everyone when they were open.”
Kennedy tried to keep pace in the fourth but crucial turnovers and failure to capitalize on free throws came back to haunt them. Fields was very strong on the ball and kept setting up Pearson for open shots.
“Last year we had everyone we had now including one of the best players in the city in Krystal Pearson,” Burke said. “Now we’re number three in the city and there’s one reason for that and that’s Lynda Fields. The girl is just quality. She has a high basketball IQ and was able to get Pearson the ball all night tonight.”
Fields, a transfer from Blessed Sacrament, joined the team in March of last year, and has found great success and chemistry with Pearson.
“Before we went into this game, people thought that the first time we beat them was just luck,” Fields said. “We had to prove to them that it really wasn’t and that we’re capable of doing anything
Truman has put itself in the driver’s seat for a No. 3 seed in the ‘AA’ playoffs and remains without Joella Gibson, who took a hiatus from the team for academic reasons. Kennedy just seemed to be building momentum after four straight victories.
“I thought we played hard but just made a lot of stupid mistakes,” Kennedy coach O’Neil Glenn said. “We made a lot of mistakes and didn’t move the ball the way we should have and it came back and bit us. We just didn’t come to play. A game’s a game, I don’t care rivalry or not, it’s part of the season. It’s a game.”
Truman hopes that its latest victory will show it is are good. Not lucky.
“We had a very good start to the season,” Burke said. “Then we lost two games in a row and were banged up. We beat Kennedy in The Bronx and it was seen as an upset then, but tonight was an important statement for us, it was an important win in showing who we are.”